Summer McIntosh celebrates her world record time in the women's 400-metre freestyle event at the 2023 Canadian swimming trials in Toronto on March 28.Scott Grant/The Canadian Press
Canadian teen swimming sensation Summer McIntosh said it was tough to sleep after she set a new world record in the 400-metre freestyle Tuesday night at the Canadian Swimming Trials.
She spent much of the race so far in the lead she had no one pushing her, shaved three seconds off her previous best time, and swam every 50-metre split of the race in world-record time.
She cried joyful tears after the race, but the 16-year-old said she didn’t do much to celebrate the world record, which was her first. She wants to remain “in the zone,” focused on racing four more events at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre this week, as she and other swimmers try to make Canada’s team for the upcoming world championships. Being a freshly minted world record holder is a heavy thing to digest.
“I definitely did not expect that going into last night whatsoever,” she said during a 15-minute video call with a small group of Canadian reporters as she rested up at her Toronto home on Wednesday, her only day off for this meet. “I don’t really focus on records that much. I think I still am in pretty much complete shock.”
She slept in Wednesday morning and visited the pool just long enough for a brief workout. Even as media clamoured for more of her time after her record made international swimming news, Ms. McIntosh did not veer from her recovery plan during a heavy week of racing.
“I really tried to learn what it takes to do that,” Ms. McIntosh said. “I’ve started to kind of master it, but it definitely is something that you have to think about.”
A crew got up on scaffolding Wednesday afternoon to update a sign above “Canada’s Fastest Pool” that lists the major milestones achieved at the Pan Am Centre. They were adjusting the number of world records set in the building from one to two.
The first world record set in the Toronto pool was by U.S seven-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky, at the World Cup this past October. Hers was a short-course world record in the 1500-metre freestyle.
Ms. McIntosh has placed herself alongside swimming’s superstars in the past year. By clocking 3:56.08 in the 400 free on Tuesday, the Canadian teen smashed the previous mark of 3:56.40, which was set this past May by Australia’s reigning Olympic champion, Ariarne Titmus.
Ms. McIntosh’s was the first long-course world record by a Canadian since Kylie Masse in the 100-metre backstroke at the 2017 world championships in Budapest, and the first by a Canadian at Trials since Amanda Reason’s 50-metre breaststroke mark in 2009.
As Ms. McIntosh touched the wall in world-record time Tuesday night, official Louise Leblanc sprang into action poolside. There is a long list of things to do when a swimmer breaks a world record, to officially ratify the rare accomplishment.
First, Ms. Leblanc caught Ms. McIntosh before she left the deck and snapped a photo of the label on the backside of her Speedo swimsuit. Officials had to crosscheck the number on her suit to verify it was an approved technical racing suit. That’s just one of many details World Aquatics – the sport’s world governing body – requires.
They called in a professional surveyor to measure the lane and verify that it was indeed 50 metres long. They needed to see Ms. McIntosh’s passport as proof of her age, because the teen had also set a junior world record. They certified the Omega timer used and checked that there was no water filtration during the race that could have created currents to help the swimmer along. Ms. McIntosh was hurried along to be drug tested by doping control.
“It’s special for us, too. We don’t get to see that happen often,” Ms. Leblanc recalled poolside on Wednesday. She is a national meet referee from Sherbrooke, Que. “I’ve been fortunate to do many international meets, and witness the best swimmers in the world. The atmosphere in here was exciting – everyone had goosebumps.”
Ms. McIntosh swam with the Etobicoke Swim Club as a young girl, then started training with other national team swimmers in Toronto and made Team Canada at age 14, for the Tokyo Olympics. She was named Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year for 2022, after stellar performances at the Commonwealth Games in Britain and world championships in Hungary.
Ms. McIntosh switched up her training in the past year, relocating to Florida to train with the Sarasota Sharks under a new coach, Brent Arckey. She had enjoyed a training stint she spent there during the height of the pandemic. This week was Mr. Arckey’s first trip to Toronto.
“She is wise and more mature than most 16-year-olds, and very premeditated, always knows what’s going on,” Mr. Arckey said. “I think my answer to her mom was, ‘I’m really humbled that you guys are willing to trust me with all this.’ So it’s not like it’s a low-stress proposition on my end. I’m happy to have the challenge.”
In Sarasota, she’s surrounded by a large group of female and male swimmers of various ages. There are some U.S. national team and junior national team members, some Division 1 college athletes, and some teens headed to college soon. And there are some Canadian snowbirds in the club’s master’s program for adults, who keenly cheer on Ms. McIntosh.
She relishes taking on male swimmers in Sarasota to push her speed.
“There’s always somebody to challenge her, and people to hang out with, which makes it enjoyable,” Mr. Arckey said.
Ms. McIntosh said she tries to stay off her phone during meets, but she admitted she has been hearing from friends, family, and other swimmers around the world after her record.
“I don’t think this will ever sink in,” she said.